Hymn to Inana as Ninegala (Inana D): translation

1-8Great light,
heavenly lioness, always speaking words of assent! Inana, great light, lioness of heaven, who always speaks words of
assent! Ninegala! As you rise in the morning sky like a
flame visible from afar, and at your bright appearance in the evening sky, the
shepherd (i.e. the king) entrusts (?) the flocks of Sumer to you. Celestial sign, ...... glory of heaven! All the
countries are building a house for you as for the risen sun; a shining (?)
torch is assigned to you, the light of the Land.

9-10Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can
compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let
me tell of your grandeur!

11-19When bright
...... had raised its head in the Land, and when you live ...... with ......,
the young woman ...... the hero for you, she has grasped ...... for you. ......
has brought the numerous ...... to you. They raise ...... to your ......; kids
...... are ordered, and your Egal-edina, the place of
calm, has been arranged for you. You are the good woman who spreads a sense of
awe perceptibly throughout the Land.

20-21Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can
compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let
me tell of your grandeur!

22-36After the first
watch of the night has passed, as like a shepherd you get up from the grass,
you seize your battle-mace like a warrior, you fasten the guma cloth on
your arms, and you bind on your indefatigable strength. Thus you appear
brilliantly, together with An, in the city
(probably Unug) . On earth, Inana, you emit
awe-inspiring splendour from the holy dais. Your feet are placed on seven dogs,
your seat is set upon a lion and a leopard. Cattle and sheep are brought to you
for inspection. Lulal stands by your feet, bearing in
battle the pitiless (?) udug weapon. Beside them the cultic attendants
stand at your service, lined up for you beside the dogs. They have taken over
the temple Gu-ena-ida, to provide for you.

37-38Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can
compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let
me tell of your grandeur!

39-43The ...... dog
(?) has brought the sheep close to you; the powerful dog (?) has ...... a wild
bull ...... in its paws,2 lines unclear
the lion, the warrior .......

44-56Inana, in heaven you are lightning, on earth you move swiftly
...... against the foreign land that you are angry with, ....... When in your
precinct and shrine the Ibgal you regulate the divine
ordinances like the divine powers of An, when you
regulate the heavenly ordinances like the divine powers of Enki and cause awe of you to reach up to the heavens, then your
seat is on the ...... dais on the terrace by your Gate of Four Faces. Inana, you go into the interior of heaven like your father
Suen; Ninegala, you appear like
moonlight in your shrine the Ibgal, placing your foot
on your ordinances, and dividing them among the ...... dogs (?).

56-57Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can
compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let
me tell of your grandeur!

58-65When you hasten
to where brambles and foul great thorns grow, when you stride along all the
mountains, when you drink from puddles with the dogs, when you share the stall
with the horses, when with the storm you reduce everything to a mere shadow,
Inana, when you cause the rain to fall all day long,
then your seat is in your E-kug-nuna at Eridug, on the dais where destinies are determined.

66-76At the New
Year, at the festival of Dumuzid, your spouse Ama-ucumgal-ana, lord Dumuzid, steps
forward to you. ...... of weeping are brought to you, Inana, as offerings. The tubes of the underworld are opened for
you, and memorial libations are poured down them for you. The en
priests, the lumah priests and the nindijir priestesses, and the
dead luzid and amalu, eat meals for you, to keep away the ghosts,
and drink water for you, to keep away the ghosts. Your holy dais is set up
beside them.

77-78Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can
compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let
me tell of your grandeur!

79-87Inana, when you give judgement with An and
Enlil; Ninegala, when you
decide destinies on earth with Enki, when you shimmer
(?), when you ...... to a mere shadow, when you come forth from the corner,
when you come forth from the side, when you are to be seen on the horizon,
Inana, when in your destructiveness you make
storm-floods wash over everything, then the great en priests ......,
then the igi-dua priestesses wear the tonsure for you, then your seat is
on your Dais of Silence.

88-92The young men
fastened in neck-stocks ...... before you, the mother of the sick lays her
child in your arms, the mother of the uprooted (?) ...... in your great hall.
You cut the ...... of the weak, you release (?) ...... the weak.

93-94Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can
compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let
me tell of your grandeur!

95-106When you act
as a shepherd with the herdsman, when ...... with the cowherd you throw the
halters on the cows, when you mix the butter, when you purify the milk, when
you find joy in the embrace of your spouse Dumuzid,
when you have pleasure in the embrace of your spouse Dumuzid, when you take your seat on the high dais in the great hall
in your Kura-igijal where judgment is passed, then the
people of the holy uzga stand there at your service.1 line unclear
They cannot compete with you, Inana. As a prostitute
you go down to the tavern and, like (?) a ghost who slips in through the
window, you enter there.

107-108Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can
compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let
me tell of your grandeur!

109-115When the
servants let the flocks loose, and when cattle and sheep are returned to
cow-pen and sheepfold, then, my lady, like the nameless poor, you wear only a
single garment. The pearls of a prostitute are placed around your neck, and you
are likely to snatch a man from the tavern. As you hasten to the embrace of
your spouse Dumuzid, Inana,
then the seven paranymphs share the bedchamber with you.

116-117Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can
compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let
me tell of your grandeur!

118-125In the
evening, when the stars return together again and when Utu enters into his chamber, when in heaven, Inana, you diffuse awesomeness like fire, and when on earth, Ninegala, you screech like a falcon, then you ...... in play
and dancing.1 line unclear
You go from moonlight to star, you go from star to moonlight.

126-127Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can
compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let
me tell of your grandeur!

128-14313
lines missing or unclear
The slavegirl ...... her mistress. ...... her house and property. ...... her
child.

144-145Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can
compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let
me tell of your grandeur!

146-1587 lines
unclear
...... you are the great goddess.2 lines unclear
The levy of troops is brought into the broad square like a crouching dragon.
The young woman abandons the E-mah, destroying the
temple like my ....... The young man who has come to know your eminence makes a
gesture of obeisance.

159-160Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can
compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let
me tell of your grandeur!

161-1905 lines
unclear21 lines missing1 line fragmentary
...... has presented (?) ...... to you there. Your position ....... If ......
beside the Egal-edina, then the evil demons and
demonesses oppose it.

191-192Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can
compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let
me tell of your grandeur!

193-2041 line
fragmentaryInana, you are an object of admiration, like a charming
young maiden. ...... has been opened for you. Mistress, your ...... priestess
hangs the cuba jewels on you. The great ......, responsible for the
ordinances,1 line unclear
You enter house after house, you peer into lane after lane. Lady, when ......,
when your emblem is displayed, maiden, when you stand in ......, you are
covered in loveliness. Who ...... finds ...... in the sheepfold, ......, ......
prayer .......

205-206Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can
compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let
me tell of your grandeur!